Ok Trump said he is going to get it back into business and I love it. Now before I get to my real point, I want to let you know about my familiarity with the place. A few of you may know this, but I searched it today and it hasn’t been on this site before. Now as you know I was born in San Francisco but never really lived there. I started traveling there because we had a regional office there and I went several times and never went to Alcatraz because it just wasn’t high on my list of places to visit. I had visited prisons when I was in law school and it just didn’t rank high on my list of things to do. But I brought my ex out with me before we were married and she wanted to go to Alcatraz and so on the first night we were there we were down at the waterfront and I took her to show her where she would catch the ferry to see it the next day when I was working. I was trying a national security case out there.
Anyway when we got to where the ferries were, there was a huge crowd and I asked a couple what was going on and they said that twice a year the National Park Service put on a night tour where they had people dressed up and playing the Birdman of Alcatraz and other famous inmates and I asked where I could get tickets and they told me that it was always sold out months in advance. However, another couple who was supposed to go with them couldn’t make it and they gave us the tickets gratis . And it was amazing.
Now the hook to today is that HFJ said on the Five that they shouldn’t send prisoners there because it’s too beautiful, and he couldn’t be more wrong. Not because it’s not beautiful, but because and I thought this when I was there, it would be torture to be a mile and a half from San Francisco and able to see it every night and see the lit up waterfront and skyline and know ecstasy was just out of reach.
San Francisco is incredibly beautiful from Alcatraz and especially at night. The night I was there there was a clear sky and a full moon sitting over the Transamerica pyramid. I took a picture which was incredible. However, when the film came back from developing, the only photo missing was that one and not even a bad negative. I’m certain that someone has made some serious money with that photo.